Phirework

hiya

I'm Jenny Zhang, a full-stack web developer and freelance writer. I'm a big fan of semantic code, responsive design, and open source software. I'm also a fierce advocate for expanding access to technology and overcoming diversity gaps in STEM.

When I'm not wrangling code, I'm reading and writing about a wide variety of social issues in the tech world, building towers and defending them, or working my way through a massive stack of SF/F novels.

skills

(expand all)

web development

HTML, HTML5

CSS, CSS3, SASS/LESS

PHP

Javascript/jQuery

responsive web development

progressive enhancement

Angular.js, React.js, TypeScript.js

object-oriented programming, MVC frameworks

Node.js

Python

application programming

Java

Scheme

C++

Scala

C

Assembly

Haskell

content management systems

Wordpress

theming & templating

plugin development

Drupal

theming & templating

custom plugin development

views, pages, panels

features

orgranic groups

rules

version control

Git

command-line interface

Github

databases

MySQL

command-line interface

phpMyAdmin

misc

MongoDB

SQLite

server administration

Apache

nginx

email server administration

OS X server management

design and animation

Adobe

Photoshop

Illustrator

InDesign

AfterEffects

Flash

Premiere Pro

other

Tumult Hype

Microsoft Publisher

Autocad Sketchbook Pro

PaintTool SAI

natural languages

English

Mandarin Chinese

French

German

et cetera

regex

bash shell

networking protocols

experience

work

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senior web developer, Common Sense Media

Jan 2014 - Aug 2017 Toronto, ON & San Francisco, CA

lead front-end developer on Common Sense Education

liaising with product managers, UI and UX designers, and the editorial team

responsible for complete product development, including providing guidance on leading edge technical solutions, developing detailed project specs with product managers, working with the design team on wireframe development, building out robust custom solutions, QA and deployment, and supporting iterative improvement

implemented mobile-friendly re-design and re-theme of the entire site that resulted in significantly improved usability, responsiveness, and discoverability

designed and developed headless API-based search and browse experiences using Angular

assisted in migration, integration, and theming of thousands of pieces of education content from the primary corporate site

built standalone browsing tool for evaluating privacy policies of edtech tools using React and Express

created an improved and expanded user profile and content management experience with social capabilities

collaborated with rest of development team on agile development and continuous optimization

worked with editorial team to build versatile new content models for original teaching plans and toolkits

specialized in content management systems (such as Wordpress and Drupal) and deploying user-friendly sites that the clients could maintain independently

staff accountant, Ernst & Young

May 2010 - Aug 2010, Sept 2011 - Mar 2012 Toronto, ON

provided audit, compliance, and review services for mid-market business in a wide range of industries in Toronto, including professional services, real estate, manufacturing, and retail

performed testing, reconciliation, and financial analysis in accordance with GAAP and IFRS

prepared tax returns for corporate clients

education

bachelor of computer science, University of British Columbia

Sept 2016 - April 2018 (anticipated) Vancouver, BC

graduate diploma in accounting, Queen's University

May 2011 - Aug 2011 Kingston, ON

bachelor of arts (sociology), Queen's University

Sept 2008 - May 2011 Kingston, ON

bachelor of commerce (honours), Queen's University

Sept 2007 - May 2011 Kingston, ON

code samples

(coming soon)

miscellany

writing

Writing is my first love, and everything else in my life, including my passion for programming, stems from my desire to communicate with people. You can find my writing at my blog, on Medium, or through my politics TinyLetter.

fun fact

On most places on the internet, you'll find me under some variant of the username "phirephoenix" or "phire". It's a handle I picked long before I was old enough to realize that names have staying power, and that maybe a future version of me that was older than eleven wouldn't want to be known as a mythical animal with an alliterative phoneme.

I've been using the handle for so long now that I can't really imagine going by anything else, and as far as "usernames you picked as a pre-teen that now constitute your entire online identity" go, I could be doing a lot worse.

contact

The quickest way to reach me would be either by email or Twitter, but I'll also happily accept postcards, smoke signals, or some combination of the following: